‘La Brecha’ (‘The Devil’s Clock’) is More Entertaining than Scary (review)
By Lois Kennedy
Director: Jose Carlos Gutierrez
Cast: Alejandro Camacho, Suzet Villalobos, Anna Cepinska, Victor Hernandez, Antonio Aguirre
Mexican movie. Daniel, Mariana, Joselo, and Karina are four friends on a road trip to the beach when they get lost. They wind up in a deserted town, where they’re met by Nicolas, who gives them a place to stay. In a jealous rage, Joselo destroys their car, and they’re stranded. Meanwhile, there’s a broken clock in the middle of town that predicts the time people will die–and it suddenly starts working.
The first few minutes of the movie make it appear deceptively low-budget. The cameras look cheap and the acting is sub-par. I seriously considered just turning it off. But once the story turns its focus to the main characters, it picks up. The cameras are just fine, and so is the acting. My favorite is Suzet Villalobos as Mariana, and Alejandro Camacho does a great job as the creepy Nicolas.
There’s actually a lot to like. The set and scenery are great. The writing is solid. The special effects are sub-standard, but they’re wisely not used very often. Normally I get bored when there isn’t a lot of horror-type stuff happening, but the characters were actually interesting even while they’re bickering (which is most of the movie). (They’re easy on the eyes too, which doesn’t hurt.) The directing is competent (though I’m not crazy about multiple tight closeups) and the editing is only off occasionally (like a love scene when Karina’s face goes from ecstatic to bored and back to ecstatic).
It amused me that the main characters constantly refer to Nicolas as “old,” even though Camacho was only 52 when the movie was released. Que viejo! I also had to laugh when Daniel, frustrated at how Karina and Mariana believe in the cursed clock’s predictions, exclaims, “There’s a murderer in town and that’s it!”
I don’t have any real gripes; I wonder how any of the characters ate because they didn’t seem to have brought food with them and there doesn’t appear to be any food in the house they’re staying in. I also wonder why the title was changed to “The Devil’s Clock” which would be Reloj del diablo in Spanish. La Brecha is translated to “gap” or “breach.”
All told, I have a soft spot in my heart for it. Check it out if you’re in the mood for hot people arguing and hooking up in a horror backdrop.
Rating: 4/5
Unfortunately, I could not find a trailer (I found the copy I watched at the library), but apparently you can see the entire movie here:
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